TACLOBAN CITY- All major events for this month in the city were cancelled by Mayor Alfred Romualdez due to the continuing rise of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
First to be cancelled by the city mayor was the holding in the city of the 123rd Philippine Independence Day celebration last Saturday (June 12) which also coincided with the city’s 68th Charter Day celebration.
In his post on his social media account, Mayor Romualdez also said that there would be activities relative to the city fiesta which falls on June 30.
“I am informing the public that we will not be holding activities for Independence Day, Charter Day, and our city fiesta,” the city mayor said on his post.
“Those planning reunions and other gatherings, please cancel all of them,” Romualdez said
All mass gatherings like reunions are also prohibited, the city mayor said.
“Let’s protect not only ourselves but each other,” Romualdez said.
For the past several days now, the daily COVID-19 cases in the city has reached to double digits.
From June 1 until yesterday (June 14) this month alone, the total cases of the city reached to 533.
The highest number of cases was on June 10 with 112 cases.
As of Monday, the total cases of Tacloban of COVID-19 is now at 3,197 of which 2,689 are considered as recovered while 429 are active cases.
About 79 COVID-19 patients from the city were confirmed to have died due to complications.
Earlier last week the city government here has banned all public gatherings due to rising cases of COVID-19 in the city in the past few days.
Mayor Alfred Romualdez earlier signed Executive Order No. 2021-06-023 canceling all public in-person assemblies in the city and emphasize the imposition of minimum health standards.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
Due to surge of COVID-19 cases, Mayor Romualdez cancels 3 events scheduled this June
Uy professes innocence; ready to face probe
Implicated in the slaying of Mayor Aquino
TACLOBAN CITY- A political rival of slain Calbayog City Mayor Ronald Aquino said that he has nothing to do with the killing of the said mayor and is even willing to attend the Senate to clear his name if invited.
Raymund ‘Monmon” Uy also denied that he ever met or knew Police Master Sergeant Jose Jay Senario who dropped his name during the probe conducted by the Senate’s committee on public order and dangerous drugs as among those who reportedly ‘manufactured’ evidences to link Aquino to the illegal drug trade.
“I was shocked that he mentioned my name during the (Senate) hearing. For one, I don’t know him or ever met him, contrary to his claim that we met at my residence here in Calbayog,” Uy, in a phone interview, said.
Asked if he is willing to appear to a Senate committee investing the incident, Uy said that he would do so and clear his name in the process.
“Yes I am willing to appear before the Senate as this will give me a chance to clear my side; to air my side, especially on Senario’s testimony,” he said.
According to Uy, who ran against the slain Aquino during the 2019 mayoralty elections, he just learned that Senario is a police officer assigned at one point at the Calbayog City police office.
He also said that based on information he received, Senario has a bad record and has several cases in courts in the city and a murder charge in a Leyte town where he was assign.
“He has a bad reputation here.He has a case of perjury in the courts here in Calbayog and a murder charge in a Leyte town where he was assigned,” Uy said.
Uy thus said that the situation mentioned by Senario during the Senate hearing ‘never happened.’
“That is not true at all. He never went to my house where he claimed we have meet (and gave him the money),” he said.
Senario, in his testimony, mentioned a ‘disgruntled politician’ as among those who helped concoct stories or evidences to link Aquino into illegal drug trade.
He also said that Uy gave him P50,000 for the alleged murder plan of Bembol Gargar but it was his companion who was killed.
Gargar, a civilian, was said to be a close personnel of Mayor Aquino. Senario, however, did not link Uy of any involvement on the killing of the city mayor.
Uy also dismissed the claim of Senario that he was involved to any plan to implicate the city mayor to illegal drug trade.
“Granted that what he said were true, why will I deal with a (junior rank) policeman like him? I will deal with high-ranking officers. No, it is not true,” Uy said.
Uy also said that he had no dealings with Police Capt. Joselito Tabada.
“I only met him when I made a courtesy call at his office in 2016 when I ran for Congress as he was at that time the police chief of Tarangan (town),” he said.
Tabada, a member of the Samar Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit as among the police officers killed during the incident on March 9 that resulted in the killing of Mayor Aquino who was on his way to attend the birthday celebration of his son, Mark.
He also said that considering that the testimony made by Senario before the Senate were all ‘fabricated,’ he is mulling of consulting his lawyer on what possible legal actions he could make against the police officer.
Uy also welcomed the statement of the son of the slain mayor, Mark Aquino, to conduct investigation on the series of killing incidents in Calbayog City.
“I also welcome that. This will pave the way once and for all, for the people of Calbayog to know who were responsible on these killings and not just point at me as behind these killings,” he said.
Uy admitted that he is now afraid of his security considering that he is being implicated in the killing of Mayor Uy.
“There is a threat on my security although I am just here in Calbayog,” he said.
Uy also wondered why the killing of Aquino was being tagged as politically-motivated.
“Why they are saying it was politically motivated?” he asked.
Earlier, Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento said that the killing of Aquino was politically motivated perpetrated by his political enemies.
Uy, who is an ally of the family of Governor Michael Tan, a political nemeses of Sarmiento and Aquino, admitted that he has still a political plan comes next year’s elections.
“I am just waiting instructions from my party,” he said.
Uy said that he belongs to the ruling PDP-Laban. At that time of his killing, Mayor Aquino was serving on his last term in office.
Meantime, Police Lt. Col. Harry Sucayre, head of the PNP-Integrity Monitoring Enforcement Group, said that he would answer the complaint filed against him and five others relative to the slaying of Mayor Aquino.
Sucayre and his men involved in the incident were charged for three counts for homicide and frustrated homicide for the killing of Aquino, his police escort, S/Sgt. Rodelio Sario, driver Dennis Abayon, and the wounding of Mansfield Labonite, a staff of the mayor.
“I will answer the complaint filed against me. I will not issue further comment on this (issue) as it is now in courts,” Sucayre, in a separate phone interview, said.
His group are now restricted at their national police headquarters as directed by Police Director General Guillermo Eleazar.
Vessel containing ‘tahong’ caught at the red tide identified Carigara Bay
TACLOBAN CITY-A fishing vessel was caught illegally transporting 1,200 kilograms of green mussels or ‘tahong’ on Wednesday (June 9) around 7 am by the personnel of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and Coast Guard at the Carigara Bay.
The incident happened as BFAR has reported of the presence of red tide toxin in various bays in the region to include the Carigara Bay.
Report from the BFAR office said that the fishing vessel, whose owner was not identified except to say he was from Villareal, Samar, failed to present a local transport permit from BFR and an auxiliary invoice from the origin of the mussel transported reason why it was stopped seized.
The BFAR said that they have been receiving reports that despite of the ban to collect green mussels and other fishery products in the area due to the presence of the red tide, such activity had been spotted by local residents.
The seized green mussels, valued at around P60,000, were disposed.
The owner of the vessel will be charged for violating Fisheries Administrative Orders (FAOs) 233 and 235 which provides penalty of more than P10,000 and imprisonment of up to one year if proven guilty.
BFAR earlier released its shellfish bulletin No. 16 on May 27, 2021 putting 11 bays and coastal waters in Eastern Visayas under shellfish ban or the prohibition of gathering, transporting and selling of all types of shellfish and Acetes sp. or Alamang.
These areas include the Irong-Irong bay (Catbalogan, Samar); San Pedro bay (Basey, Samar); Maqueda bay (Jiabong, Motiong, Paranas, San Sebastian, Calbiga, Pinabacdao, Hinabangan, Samar); Carigara Bay (Babatngon, San Miguel, Barugo, Carigara and Capoocan, Leyte); Coastal waters of Calubian, Leyte; Ormoc Bay (Ormoc City, Merida and Albuera, Leyte); Cambatutay Bay (Tarangnan, Samar); Coastal waters of Zumarraga, Samar; Coastal waters of Daram, Samar; Villareal Bay (Villareal, Samar), and; Cancabato Bay (Tacloban City).
RIATF recommends to place EV under GCQ
As the region logs 572 new cases on Thursday
TACLOBAN CITY- In another record-breaking day for the region in so far as new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Department of Health (DOH) announced on Thursday (June 10) of 572 fresh cases.
The 572 new cases of the region was part of the 1,855 samples tested by four COVID-19 testing laboratories or a positivity rate of 30.84 percent.
For the past three days alone this week, the region’s COVID-19 daily new cases reached to 635 with Wednesday’s fresh cases at 361 as one of the highest ever for the region.
The increasing trend for COVID-19 cases of the region has prompted the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging and Infectious Diseases to place the entire region to a stricter General Community Quarantine (GCQ) from its current quarantine status of Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) to the National Inter-Agency Task Force.
“Our surveillance unit is recommending that the entire Eastern Visayas be placed under GCQ from the previous MGCQ with granular lockdowns in selected municipalities in the region,” the DOH said.
“Our situation right now is very alarming so le us not go out of our homes if unnecessary. The health and well-being of our families is of outmost importance,” Dr. Exuperia Sabalberino, DOH acting regional director, said in a statement.
We also urge the local government units to help raise awareness to the public and to better reach people who are in dire need of our help. Let us continue to expedite our contact tracing for the new confirmed cases,” she said.
Violation of the minimum health protocols and the presence of the United Kingdom (UK) variant were the reasons cited by the DOH for the spike of COVID-19 cases in Eastern Visayas.
Several local government units in the region have intensified their measures to help curb the spike like closing of borders, strict implementation of the use of face mask and face shield, social distancing, curfew and prohibition of mass gatherings.
Of the 572 new cases, Leyte province posted the highest with 303 fueled mainly with the 112 cases of its capital city of Tacloban.
Northern Samar has 123 new COVID-19 cases, its highest since the start of the pandemic; followed by Southern Leyte with 82; Samar, with 44; Eastern Samar with 15 and Biliran with five new cases.
The region’s total COVID-19 cases now stand at 23,338 with 20,948 recoveries and 2,058 active cases.